Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

ALAMOGORDO – For Shawn Darling, making films isn’t just a hobby, it’s a lifestyle, literally. Darling, who has worked professionally in Los Angeles, California and other parts of the country, has converted his personal home into a working film studio and is bringing a little movie magic to Alamogordo.

Darling works in collaboration with his partner Jana Parrelli. The two are co-owners and founders of Gryphon’s Egg Mentorship Program and Gryphon’s Egg Productions.

As a child, Darling said he has always been creative and artistic which eventually lead him to special effects makeup.

“I used to collect masks as a kid. I’ve always been an artist, sculpting and painting that kind of stuff,” Darling said. “I wanted to do something more interesting than what I saw other people do. When I discovered special effects, special effects makeup specifically, I did that initially then I did stop-motion film with film cameras. I got out of the film part of it for a while and then digital video came in. I got back into it with computers and started doing visual effects as well.”

Behind the scenes of "The Stain," an episode for the YouTube web series called "The Witching Hour."(Photo: Courtesy Photo/Jana Parrelli)

Ever since then, Darling said he has worked on projects from his living room to working with Paramount Pictures. Darling is a musician, audio engineer, cinematographer and writer.

Darling, who was born in El Paso, has lived in various places including Las Cruces and Albuquerque, but ultimately decided he would move back to Southern New Mexico.

“I decided to move here from Albuquerque because I felt the area needed something here that I’m doing, because no one else is doing it,” Darling said.

So far, Gryphon’s Egg Productions in Alamogordo, which produces primarily horror and sci-fi genres, has worked on a short film called “The Stain,” which is a first episode to a YouTube web series called “The Witching Hour.”

“Our short film is utilizing two of our mentorship program students. The short film is a horror genre,” Darling said. “It’s a lot like the ‘Twilight Zone.’ Actual production started a couple weeks ago, pre-production time was kind of short. We’re shooting again this coming Thursday. Post-production will take a good three weeks to a month because of visual effects.”

Darling said the idea for the web series started about seven years ago, when he pitched the idea to the CW Network. The idea turned it into a television show where every week there would be new characters and storylines.

“The series were 22 minute episodes that came out every week that had different characters and different situations. The network took the show down seven years ago,” Darling said. “We decided to revive it again but as a web series. Recreating all the shows. We pull in people from the local area only because there’s not a lot of stuff going on here. I don’t know any actual filmmakers here so I decided to try and use all local people.”

Buy Photo

co-owners and founders of Gryphon’s Egg Mentorship Program and Gryphon’s Egg Productions Jana Parelli and Shawn Darling stand in front of their home studio equipment.(Photo: Jacqueline Devine/Daily News)

Parrelli said their mentorship program is open to anybody who is interested in a career in film starting from high school and older.

“We want to incorporate as much of Alamogordo as possible,” Parelli said. “We want to show people that you don’t have to be this big company. You can produce quality products with the talent and the availability here in Alamogordo.”

The Alamogordo based film production is working on the following projects: “Phantasmagoria,” a full feature horror film, “The Stain,” “Sablewood,” a full feature fantasy film, “Beyond the Pale,” another fantasy film, a “Star Wars” fan film, a country music video for a song called “Danced All Night,” by Phoenix Waters and several more.

For more information on the Gryphon’s Egg Mentorship Program, visit their Facebook page or email GryphonsEggmentorship@gmail.com

The mentorship program teaches interested students in all aspects of film, from acting to directing, and all other areas of filmmaking. The program is currently self funded.